1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ball-catching apparatus such as a glove or a mitt for use in sports such as baseball or softball.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ball-catching apparatus such as a glove or mitt for use in sports such as baseball or softball includes a thumb-hitching member for fitting the hand with the ball-catching apparatus. Conventionally, such a thumb-hitching member is merely formed from a band member capable of pressing the thumb from the index-finger side, and the portion of the thumb opposite to the index-finger side is pressed against the inner leather of the main body of the ball-catching apparatus.
However, with this construction, the thumb is merely pressed from the index-finger side, and therefore the thumb is not sufficiently fixed in position, thereby making it difficult to fit the hand with the ball-catching apparatus.
Therefore, the present inventor has invented a ball-catching apparatus which fits well with the hand thereby offering excellent fitting comfort quality (U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,724). More specifically, with this ball-catching apparatus, the thumb is pressed not only from the index-finger side, but also from the side opposite to the index-finger side, thereby stably fixing the thumb in position to the main body of the ball-catching apparatus. Furthermore, a band is pressed against the hand by a second band member, enabling stably fixing in position the portion of the hand near the wrist to the main body of the ball-catching apparatus.
However, in this ball-catching apparatus, an inner leather piece for wrapping the four fingers other than the thumb is integrally formed and therefore induces resistance to the bending motion of the little and ring fingers towards the ball-catching side, during ball-catching. Therefore, there has been required a ball-catching apparatus which induces less resistance to the motion of the little and ring fingers during ball-catching and therefore is suited for ball-catching action.